November 2008

Adelaide is a strange town. It is a bit like a rough-and-tumble tomboy who decides to play dress-up in her mother's party clothes. By day, it seems innocuous enough, with its migrant museum and proximity to wine country. At night, though, watch out -- this town turns into an odd combination of Vegas and Ensenada, for both college kids and the 50-something crowd.

We have generally been 'winging' it when it comes to scheduling, so it was a real treat when we realized we'd be able to make it to Warrawonga Sanctuary on our very first night here. The only downside was that one of us would have to drive there -- on the wrong side of the road -- at night. The payoff? Hand-feeding kangaroos and wild wallabys, hearing two male koala bears posture for territory, and watching a mama duck with her ducklings troll for dinner.

It was a magical, totally amazing experience.

On our 2nd day in Adelaide, we drove down to McLaren Vale, searching out the finest grapejuice the area has on offer.

After a few false starts, we landed at three wineries where we bought, collectively, two cases of wine. The hands down favorite was a wee winery called Kay Brothers Amery, where we procured half a case of beautiful stickes. D'Arenberg Winery gets an honorable mention for their sparkling red, estate Shiraz, and super-smart marketing -- shipping a case back to the states costs less than $20.

Nibbles throughout the day came courtesy of the organic farmers market we hit that morning in Willunga.

Heading back to Adelaide that evening, we grabbed a light dinner at Universal Cafe, and walked back through the town at the peak of its madness. Which led us to the Cabernet Cabaret.

And with Mr Chad Romero & his cabaret we shall end this post. I encourage you to google them, for it will help to explain the first paragraph of today's missive.

Meanwhile, I need to finish this bottle of wine, and watch the sun set over St Kilda whilst the children frolic in the surf.

The overnight flight from SFO is interesting. Because you're flying for 14 hours, it's actually possible to get 8 hours sleep, and still squeeze in a meal and a movie. Admittedly, flying business class probably made this a hell of a lot easier, but I noticed that people in Coach had whole rows to theselves, too.

At any rate, we hit the ground running, since our room at the hotel wasn't quite ready yet. Our path took us down to Circular Quay, and up towards The Rocks, the original settlement when the penal colony was established.

This area is simply stunning, though steeped in a rather dark history. Nurses Walk to Suez Canal, now home to precious cafes and wine bars, were the site of streetfights and much rabble-rousing. The placards on the street corners are illuminating -- did you know that even the nurses in Sydney were convicts?

Amongst these streets, we happened upon the Renaissance Patisserie, where we found the best macarons I've had outside of Europe -- passionfruit & dark chocolate are a marriage made in heaven.

We also found Odyssey Wine Bar, where we vowed to return for dinner the following night for a taste of their food & wine flights.

Just as we thought we might have to break down and eat heavy pub food, when all we really wanted was fresh seafood, we stumbled upon Rockpool. Unbenknownst to us, this is one of the top 10 eateries in Sydney, with good reason.

We started with a dozen oysters (try as I might, I'm not loving the local Sydney oysters. Tasmanian are more to my taste so far), moving on to a stellar korean-inspired tuna tartare, and 'Crispy Leatherjack': beer-battered white fish over rice + an incredible soy-mirin-ponzu vinaigrette.

We shared a bottle of Shaddowfax Pinot Gris, which was, not shockingly, perfectly paired with the local fishes.

Our dinner at Ravenna with Stuart & Robin was equally exceptional, and introduced me to local Kingfish, which is a white tuna-type fish which I've made it my goal to eat as much of as possible.

We're now on board Qantas flight 747 on our way to Adelaide, gateway to the Barossa Valley.

Have a favorite winery, restaurant, or site you think we shouldn't miss? Let me know!

*I decided just this minute that, instead of emailing folks individually, I'd update the blog via these little missives from the other side of the globe.*

We got a good night's sleep after a delightful dinner with the owner of an agency here that I'd met thru Rick - they drove us around Bondi Beach... So beautiful.

This morning, we left the hotel around 9, went and explored the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens (they have a colony of bats!!! Thousands of bats!) & Macquarie street all before lunch. We are going to walk a bit more, then going to the fish market for late lunch.

(I wrote the above a couple hours ago)

We have now eaten a dozen oysters, a lobster and half a dozen local prawns for $37 AUS (or about $24 US)!

Tonight we're eating having nibbles at Odyssey Wine Bar, and another passion fruit macaron from the no-name patisserie around the corner, followed by a night cap at the bar at the Opera House.

Sydney is gorgeous & fascinating, and we're really glad to have another day and a half here on our way back to the states.